Spain 1392:
For a long time, the parish priest of Moncada in Spain had celebrated Mass without any scruples of conscience, when suddenly he became the prey of a violent doubt as to whether he had been rightly ordained.  In his distress, to allay his doubts he determined to put his case before his bishop.  He immediately set out on foot and journeyed to Valencia, the seat of the diocese.  In this place it pleased Almighty God to deliver him from his trouble, and to give him light and peace by means of a very remarkable miracle.

The priest had been appointed to say Christmas Mass.  He had reached the awful moment of Consecration, and with trembling hands took the host and pronounced the words of transubstantiation with a quivering voice.  As he raised the Sacred Host aloft, and knelt again in trembling adoration, the cry of a little five-year-old child rang out from the congregation:  "O Mama, what a lovely child!  See there, Mama!  He is up on the altar."  A little lad nearby, apparently forgetful of everything else, stood upon the chair and clapped his hands with joy.  The boy's mother was embarrassed and bade him hush, for no one else had seen the vision of beauty; only the innocent child saw it when the Sacred Host was raised on high.  Again and again he entreated his mother to look.  "Such a beautiful child, Mama," he whispered, "just like the little baby over there in the crib."

The mother and child awaited to hear a second Mass which was said by the same priest at dawn, and again at the Elevation the little boy exclaimed, "Oh, there he is again, Mama, don't you see?  The priest is holding him up in his hands and now he has laid him on the altar!"  The mother bade the child be silent; she could not see anything; the great grace being granted only to her little son.

The priest completed the Christmas offering by saying the third Mass.  At the Elevation the boy was all excitement, and the same scene was enacted as before.  The happy mother told others of this strange occurrence and through them it reached the ears of the priest himself who, it may be believed, was greatly comforted thereby.  However, his scruples were not entirely removed.  He doubted whether the child might not have been deceived, and therefore he requested that the little boy be cross-examined by him.  But the answers of the child were so accurate that he found no reason to doubt the reality of the manifestation.  Full of joy and filled with gratitude towards God, he invited the little boy and his mother to be present as often as possible at his Mass, and on each occasion the miracle was renewed.  As doubts still lingered in his mind, he resolved to receive a final convincing proof.  Taking three particles with him to the altar, he placed two upon the corporal and consecrated them, leaving the third one unconsecrated but within reach.  After Holy Mass was ended, he called the little boy to the altar, and asked him if he saw the divine Infant in either of the particles, and, if so, in which.  "Oh yes, Father," said the boy, "there He is!  See, He is stretching out His hands."  The little fellow seemed quite ravished with delight.  On pointing to the other host, the priest asked:  "And what about it?  Is the Divine Infant also in that other host?"  The child answered, "No."  "But are you sure?" queried the priest.  "Oh yes, Father, there is nothing there."  At the last manifestation the peace of the good priest returned to him.  Unrest and scruple vanished from his mind forever, and for the remainder of his life he served God with greater love and piety.

Image from Clarion Herald, New Orleans:   https://clarionherald.org/news/eucharistic-art-contest-inspires-magnificent-interpretations-of-christs-sacrificial-love                   
(used with permission from Clarion Herald)
Sarah Bachemin’s acrylic painting– “Behold, the Lamb of God” – offers a breathtaking, “split-screen” interpretation of the Eucharist. The left half of the painting’s dominant figure depicts St. Joseph, dressed in a simple beige garment and lifting up his smiling baby, Jesus. The other half of the same figure shows a priest garbed in his distinctive green chasuble. Like St. Joseph, the priest also is busy “lifting up Jesus” – but in the form of the consecrated bread and wine.